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Intro:

Gentlemen, I need some advice on my engine.

I haven't been active a whole lot over here lately, I bought my 79 right when the recession hit, shortly after lost my job, was doing odd stuff, currently I got a long term job again and now it looks like I'll be getting divorce , So I say F. the circumstances, time to do something in the garage!

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Info on engine mods:

Some background on the car. Car had some engine work done when i got it but I see absolutely no receipts to do with the rotating assembly so I assume the pistons and all are stock originals.

Here is some bills I found:
noisy gear drive
holley 4150 650cfm man choke 4b I dont see the choke pull lever anywhere please refer to photo if its represents this carb


edelbrock torker manifold
TCI converter pn241500 saturday night special
FEL PRO performance oil pan (looks like a regular pan with chrome finish)
rear main bearing fel pro 2900
melling m55hv high volume or moroso 22070 heavy duty oil pump - got receipts for both!
TCI flyweel int bal
fuel pres safety switch 5psi

The important stuff:

edelbrock single performance rpm 64cc
comp cams 12-210-2 high energy camshafts
comp cams 812-16 hydraulic lifters high energy
push rods hi-perf/mag
sharp 1001 ratio 1.5 c/8 stud
MSD ignition
A/F ratio monitor


Plus gaskets bolts and whatnot. I also found nitrous kit with 10 pounds of gas but I could not find anything nitrous related in the car

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Drivetrain:

The trans is a th350 with BM shift improver kit, it looks like it was set for the heavy duty, not street strip for some reason, also spring in the accumulator was left in for smoother shift( per hand notes left by someone in the BM instructions) it has a cooler

Rear diff has higher gears, it also makes some humming noises at higher speeds and leaks, it does not leak from the cover and not from the pinion.(pinion seal is new)

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Engine condition:

when I step hard on gas from a stop light sometimes there is a loud bang and engine stalls. Also engine developed oil leaks (pan, timing cover, valve covers) also that nice patina on my intake might be from carb leaking?
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The plan:

I have a low 4 digit budget (aprox 3k) and I was considering how to get more HP/torque out of the engine while fixing leaks and stuff I am not a mechanic, I am also young and its my first experience with older cars. I am looking to do stuff by myself in my garage so I obviously wont do a stroker but I could throw a 142 roots blower on it (i understand its not as simple as it looks but a lot more doable than strokers and other stuff). Due to budget restrains I would like to keep mostly everything on the engine (heads etc)

The car is for hard street use, I do hard launches every time cops are not seen, I accelerate fast but I do not drive at high speeds.

So my engine runs out of steam pretty quick i shift at 5k, oil pressure would allow me to go for more but there is no point. As mentioned above I would love to throw a 142 blower on it, they go for about $2200/satin finish kit. And I would like to ask will the 142 work well with my engine? given the heads and cam what is my approximate compression ratio right now? (assuming stock pistons). Would I be able to modify my carb to work on top of the 142? I know the carb is small but I most likely will not go over 5k. I would prefer to modify this one due to costs and also would give me nice experience with some help from master david wizard carb book.

You are probably familar with the edelbrock heads (i know they are not great, 64cc chamber) here is some more info on the cam:
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...x?csid=73&sb=2


If you see any other areas that i could improve without something major like a head swap or strocker let me know, if the components combination I have is a bad fit please let me know. and if you have any other ideas in regards to getting more power in a garage with my budget please share!

hope I didn't bore anyone to death!
THanks in advance for any help,
Best Regards
Poppa

 

With all due respect, I don't mean to be offensive, but you should get a lot more experience with tuning and general wrenching before you start looking at blowers. This can be a great learning experience.

 

NO OFFENSE TAKEN!
the way I see it - i need to start working on more advanced stuff to get more advanced experience, brake jobs and doing other maintenance stuff over and over again is not going to teach me a lot more, the reason why I'm thinking about the 142 is because it is relatively simple, single carb, not blow thru, and pretty much a bolt in package that leaves a lot of stuff not needed to be moded, (exhaust, cooling system etc). It appears to be 100 times simpler than turbo or centrifugal and it doesn't put as much stress on the crank as the big blowers so my stock bottom might be fine with it. I mean thats exactly what the mini blower was designed for - bolt on installation on stock engine. But first I need to find out if it even make sense to install on my current engine I mean is 110 lobe separation acceptable? will my current carb handle the small blower on a 350 if it will be boost referenced and rejeted with the rpm limited to 5000? These are engine builder questions and that's where this forum kicks in! experience of thousands in my living room! I appreciate any input on this!

 

Well, PaPa, welcome to the forum! The reason you can't find the choke lever is because it doesn't have one. That carb has an electric choke. It's that black round thing on the passenger side. As for the rest of it...well...it's a pretty tall order. Let's start with the intake manifold. The Torker is a single plane manifold, meant for high rpm, and is not a good street piece, especially if you're only revving it to 5 grand. An Edelbrock performer EPS, or something similar, would give you some low rpm power with out sacrificing the top end. (I'm not even going to comment on the blower, absolutely no experience here.) As for leaks, it's not rocket surgery, but there is a wealth of experience here on the forum as far as techniques go, to make things as painless and easy as possible. Tell us a little more specifically where you're leaking from, and we'll get started. The diff concerns me. Try to figure out where it's leaking from, OK? In the meantime, keep it topped off, and add some posi additive. The loud bang when you floor it? Who knows, but it can't be good, right? I think a carb rebuild is in order here. Don't be scared, Holley's are pretty much Lego carbs, they are easy to rebuild, you'll probably have fun doing it. That's it for now, see ya!

Scott

Scott

 

been doing blower research, they require a blow through carb,having the proper cam for a blower engine should be on the list, depending on your boost pressure a forged rotating mass 'rods, pistons, crank', will take your mind of holes in the side of the block. T

 

You've been researching centrifugal blowers, roots don't require blow thru carb cause the carb is not under boost

 

It's going to really suck when your ex-wife takes the car after sinking all that money into it.

 

I agree.

 

Just a couple of thoughts. With three grand to spend, and two grand going towards the blower setup, that doesn't leave a lot for the rest of the build and you're saying you've got leaks from all over.

Your driveability problems may be related to a number of things and you should evaluate and fix these, before you even start on a huge project like you're thinking. You're not happy with how it runs, but you want to throw expensive mods at it and to me, that sounds kind of crazy!

The 4150 is a great carb and yours looks reasonably fresh. Have you or someone experienced, made sure it was set up right? That makes a huge difference in how it runs. Idle, mixture, accelerator pump set up and this looks like a double pumper (correct me if I'm wrong), with Mechanical Secondaries. These carbs (I have one) will squirt huge amounts of fuel into the engine if they're not set up right. Smell the exhaust while it's idling. Does it smell really rich?

You get a loud bang and the engine stalls. That's not good and I'm willing to bet it's how the carb is set up. If it's set up wrong, you will have problems, big time! You should also evaluate the engine itself and take compression and leak-down testing on all cylinders. Check the distributor position and make sure you're absolutely on the number one plug at TDC.

Check the timing and also, make sure the vacuum advance works and that it's hooked up to the right port on the carb. Check all the vacumm lines and ports and make sure they're all good and tight. If the engine isn't happy, putting a blower on it, isn't going to make the driveability problems go away.

Just my .02

 

Thanks guys for all the replies, the backfire happend only 3 times last year but it is an indication. Leaks are from the gaskets surfaces so I'll start by torqing down stuff to.spec, wash, drive and hit it with uv to see if anything fresh glows (die in oil). I understand that it is ideal to build a whole.engine with blower in mind. However I do.not want to invest to much money into this one as its mostly ugrated. The 142 is made with stock.engines in mind so I.was wondering if.it will work with my current setup? I mean even after I fix all the issues and get a pro tune it I'll be looking at 300ish hp so while I fix stuff I decided to inquire about the 142 blower

 

The 142 blower is the perfect kick to a smog era small block. The two biggest mistakes with blowers is running it lean (so have the carb jetted correctly!) and over tightening the blower bolts! This can cause the housing to warp and can destroy the blower
Good luck and welcome to the forum
PS your hood most likely won't fit with the blower. Keep that in mind

 

I have a stock hood in need for paint so Iam perfectly happy modifying it, the problem is my engine is not stock, And I am trying to find out how would it work with current setup, heads and cam (see first post for details)

 

OK, so since I'm not getting any answers I will try to rephrase my question:


I have a stock bottom L48 with edelbrock performance RPM 64 cc heads and comp cams 12-210-2 Lobe separation 110 duration 268, lift 454
(http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...x?csid=73&sb=2)

Would it be acceptable to mount a 142 single carb mini blower on this motor and keep it 93 octane rating and gain noticeable torque/hp?

I am assuming my current cr is about 9.4 (going from 76cc to 64cc). but dynamic cr is beyond me. I understand that the blower might have to be slightly under driven but that should free some parasitic blower loss...


What do you guys think?

 

If you review the answers carefully, you can see the consensus is get it running right, before you throw a bunch of money at a blower! You're looking for more performance, but you haven't even gotten the full measure of performance, out of what you have now? What makes you think, that throwing a blower on it, is going to cure your ills?

A brand new Holley 670 Street Avenger will run you less than $400, but you also have to check your engine over carefully. Vacuum leaks will cost you a lot of driveability! Compression, leak down check, timing and distributor position at TDC. We don't see you attempting any of these things, but you want to buy a blower???

 

I will answer your question: Yes.

Scott

 

These things somehow help ya keep your sanity when life kicks you in the nuts

Get the 142 youll love it!! Awesome bang for the buck

 

Thanks Scott, anyone else wants to chip in? Found a formula by weiand and it looks like 650 cfm carb should be good for 4pounds of boost at 5k rpm.

 

I'd run a 750.

 

Heres my two cents...First I personally get it running correctly and enjoy it this summer. Just because you have receipts for internal parts doesn't mean they actually got installed.
second, future ex-wives have a habit of changing their minds as the process goes on, ( interpret as: sell to your best friend for 100.00, buy back after divorce is final) Nothing draws attention to you like new shiny parts..."if you have money for "THAT CAR " then you can have more money for ME! (sounds like experience???)
Three. save money for new engine build make it to your specs pull and install in one weekend. But like I said my two cents.

 

Me too! but:
750 is recommended when building an engine with 142 in mind, that means more boost and lower CR

I have an engine with higher CR and heads that don't flow all that well
so if I want to keep it 93 friendly, I need lower boost so I used the equation to find out what cfm I need.



Aquarian thanks for the great advice!



PS. just checked, recommended cfm for utilizing the 142 capabilities is 700